Bedside cabinet



Jan- 29, 1952 w. A. HILLENBRAND ETAL 2584,089

BEDSIDE GABINET Filed Nov. 27, 1946 Patented Jan. 29, 19 52 BEDSIDE GABINET William A. Hillenbrand, Franklin County, and

Francis J. Burst, Batesville, Ind., assignors to` Hill-Bom Company, Inc., Batesville, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application November 27, 1946, Serial No. '712,494

This application relates to furniture and more particularly to an improved and more sanitary, ventilated bedside cabinet.

Bedside cabinets of this sort are commonly used in hospitals and sick rooms. They generally have..two compartments, the upper of which usually contains the Wash basin, Wash cloth, towel, tooth cup and soap. The lower compartment usually contains the bed pan, urinal and toilet tissue.

It has been an object of this invention to provide a bedside cabinet of this Character having two separate compartments, sealed by means of a single door and in which the sealing means will prevent the transmission of unpleasant odors from one compartment to the other.

Another object has been to provide ventilated compartments to prevent the accumulation of odors within the cabinet; and more particularly to provide cross ventilation in the compartments.

A still further object has been to provide a more sanitary bedside cabinet by sealing off the germ ladened, odiferous compartment from the other compartment.

In fulfilling these objectives, the present invention contemplates a sealing by means of a compressible rubber strip, which is attached to the entire length of the leading edge of the fioor of the upper compartment; and extends into the area oocupied by the door when in a closed position. Thus when the cabinet door is closed, the rubber strip is compressed, providing an effective seal between the two compartments.

Other objectives and certain advantages will be more apparent from the following description of the drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the bedside cabinet showing the rubber sealing means in place, and the ventilation slits.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the two compartments, taken on line 2-2, showing the sealing means as compressed, the ventilating openings, and the various contents in place.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the sealng means.

A bedside cabinet of the type to which this invention is adaptable is shown generally at 5. The cabinet is of conventional construction, having four main posts 6 to which the side, rear and top panels 'l are attached. These posts have coasters B attached to their lower ends to facilitate movement of the ca'binet.

Referring generally to Figure 2, the door 9 of the cabinet is swung on hinges Ill which are attached to one of the posts 6. In this door and 1 Claim. (Cl. 312--213) opposite to the upper compartment Il is a vertical opening E2 to help provide ventilation in the upper compartment and also to provide a hand hole for use in opening the door. Within the upper compartment is a metal ring I 3 which is used as a support for the Wash bowl when that article is not in use. Attached to the main panel of the door 9 by means of screws Id is a rack |5 suitable for hanging Wash cloths or towels. The outer face of the door 9,`when in a closed position, is fiush with the outer surfaces of the supporting posts 6 and engages and compresses a sealing means l6 thus sealing oif and separ-ating the compartments and |8.

As shown in Figure 2, the compartments l and 18 are ventilated by means of two horizontal apertures |9-l9, one in each compartment, also by the Vertical aperture |2 in the door 9 entering the upper compartment, and also by the aperture 2!! in the fioor 2| of the lower compartment. This aperture 20 is formed by making the lower shelf of the cabinet or floor 2| of compartment ll slightly less in depth than the internal .dimensions of the cabinet, thus leaving the opening 2B between the door 9 and the leading edge of the shelf 2|. The apertures |2 and 19 permit cross ventilation in the upper chamber I l and the apertures |9 and 20 cross ventilate the lower chamber 18.

The sealing means IB, as shown in Figure 3, is a hollow piece of rubber semi-circular in cross section and having a fiat hacking. The arc and hacking are a single piece but are connected along one edge only to permit convenient attachment to the shelf 22 which separates the upper and lower chambers. The sealing means is attached to this shelf by means of screws 23 through the flat hacking.

This invention presents an improved bedside cabinet including a simple and practical means for effectively sealing the two compartments of the cabinet from each other.

Having described our invention, we claim:

In a bedside cabinet having a main cabinet structure including side walls, a back wall, a top. and a front door hinged at one side thereof which is adapted to swing shut and thereby close the front of said main cabinet structure, the improvement which omprises 'a lower shelf consttuting a bottom for the main cabinet structure, said lower shelf having its forward edge set back from the front of the main cabinet structure to provide an air passageway between said edge and the inner face of the door When the door is shut, a second shelf dsposed horizontally in said cabinet structure between said top and bottom whereby said second shelf defines an upper compartment and a lower compartment in said main cabinet structure, a resilient sealing strip attached to the forward edge of the second shel, said strip being engageable by the inner face of the door when the door is shut to Seal the upper compartment from the :lower one, the back wall of said cabinet structure having apertures therein opening into each of said compartments, and. said door having a hand hole therein opening into said upper compartment only, whereby said 'hand hole and back wall aperture in the upper 'com'- partment provide cross ven'tilation for said' upper compartment only, and said air vpassa'gevvay and back wall 1aperture in the lower compartment provide cross ventilation for said- Alower compart' ment only.

WILLIAM A. HILLENBRAND.

FRANCIS J. BURST.

4 REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number NameV Date 241,891- Specht May 24, 1881 736,003 Orrick Aug, 11, 1903 980,397 Barry Jan. 3, 1911 1,186,964 Armstrong June 13', 1916 1,243,670 Brew Oct. 16, 1917 13173354 Heidland Nov. 13, 1923 1,801;564 Mufliy Aug. 21, 1931 2471312 Potter Sept. 5, 1939 2,236,866 Benson Apr. 1, 1941 '2.363.530 Iwashita Nov. 28, 1944 

